Research 10

Research of "Self-portrait № 1" and Leonardo da Vinci's portrait created by an unknown artist

Research № 10. "Self-portrait № 1" and Leonardo da Vinci's portrait created by an unknown artist are presented for the research. The people are depicted with small deviations in position of the head, in "Self-portrait № 1" the head is tilted backwards.

There is an age difference of approximately 10 years or more between the people in the paintings, which is indicated by the presence of glabellar lines, more prominent wrinkles and folds in the second image and also the presence of a beard.

Images were brought to the same size (a 19 mm distance between the pupils) and the first image was turned to the right (7 °).

Matching signs of appearance, which are marked in red below, were revealed. In addition to that, distinctive sings of appearance were revealed as well and are marked in blue with explanatory notes.

Mark 1 – hair type (wavy),

Mark 2 – line between the upper and lower lips (wavy), contour line of the upper lip, height of the lower lip,

Mark 10 – height of the upper lip (in the first image it is bigger, than in the second), lip fullness,

Mark 11 – nasal arch shape (in the second image it is crooked, the shape of the nose tip is lowered) can be explained by the artist's subjective vision,

Mark 12 – presence and prominence of glabellar lines (in the second image they are hardly seen, in the first image they are absent) – a sign of age-related changes of appearance.

With the help of the method of masking, two faces represented in paintings were compared by several signs of appearance.

The steady, individual matching signs of appearance revealed by the research, as well as the result of the use of masks allow to draw a conclusion that the people in the painting are perceived as one and the same person, considering the age-related changes in the second image, taking into account quite explainable distinctive signs as well as the fact that the presented images are not the exact portrayal of appearance, distinction in the head tilt. Thus, most likely, the same person with an age difference is depicted in "Self-portrait № 1" and Leonardo da Vinci's portrait created by an unknown artist.